Gazing Into The Flames
Tag: communicating creatively
A Cool Summer Breeze
A Journey In Watercolour
One of my interests is Watercolour. I had a bit of a dabble in Watercolour back in 2010, however, I was steered towards Acrylic by my well-meaning Mother-In-Law (whom I get on very well with and we have the same sense of humour), who has painted in Acrylics/Oil for more than 40 years.
About 18 months ago I started using Watercolour Pencils and Aqua Wash Pens and this led me (almost 12 months ago) to purchasing a set of Cotman Watercolours (40 Half-Pans) but I was struggling to fit in one sketch a fortnight.
There are many reasons that I love the medium of Watercolour e.g. the transparency of the medium reminds me of Photographic Slides; it is unpredictable; no two images will be the same; it is quick to do a sketch on the run and it is so much fun.
I know I have much to learn and I know that the only way to improve is to practice more, so to this effect, last Australia Day, 26 January, I decided that I would attempt to do a Watercolour Sketch a day.
Thus far, I am 7 out of 7 and have included my first 7 attempts below.
For more inspiration, I’ve also joined the World Watercolor Group on Facebook that is run by Charlie O’Shields of Doodlewash fame. Over 25,000 Watercolour Artists are members of the Group.
There is much for me to learn and I am so looking forward to continuing this Watercolour Journey!
Written by David Johnson
2 February 2019
Summer Rains
Woven By DNA
A Sound So Pure…
The power of Wind Chimes can be amazing.
I’m not sure if they have the same effect on you as they do me, but almost every time I hear them, one of two things happen:
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They remind me of something beautiful that happened previously in my life and my mind is cast back to that time and I remember the experience with fondness.
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My imagination starts to wander and my mind thinks of beautiful experiences to come.
There is also something inherently pure about their sound, too. It’s like an ‘original score’ that perhaps can never be repeated given that the wind blows in different strengths at different times from different directions.
I’ve also found them to be a great ‘mood lifter’ as well and why wouldn’t they be given the effect they have on me.
We were given a wind chime for Christmas (pictured below). I can hear it now. Such a beautiful sound.
How do they make you feel?
Written by David Johnson
20 January 2019
Chronicling Our Journey
Creating New Habits, Not Resolutions…
I stopped making ‘New Years Resolutions’ many years ago.
Instead, I set goals and they cover all different areas of my life. The challenge though (as I have found before) is that in the Christmas/New Year period, when life is good, breezy and we are relaxed, we tend to create these awesome theoretical goals for the New Year.
They sound great, however, when life ‘starts happening and reality moves in’ those goals (and good intentions) tend to get consigned to history and a couple of weeks, months and beyond, we look back thinking, ‘what happened?’
So, what can we do about it?
This year, I’ve decided to do something different.
Firstly, I’ve worked out ‘why these goals/habits are important to me?’
Secondly, I’ve set up a spreadsheet with various headings for the goals/new habits that I would to introduce/reintroduce into my life.
Some examples are ‘reading from a professional development book, walking and meditation.’ Each have a heading and I’ve put in (in the case of walking) how far I’ve walked and in the case of reading & meditation, I put in the amount of time.
You might be thinking that’ it’s easy to find the time to read or meditate…’but when you are running a business, am involved in BNI (breakfast business group) and have a heavy involvement in Toastmasters as member with additional roles, family commitments and all the hobbies/interests I have, then it’s easy for it to get forgotten or become erratic.
I’m not trying to start 10 new habits at once though, I’m bringing them in gradually.
I’m 9 days in and the spreadsheet system is working well. I can access it via Google Sheets on my phone as well so I can check up at any time to see how I am progressing.
The thought is, that once I’ve created the new habits and they become part of my life, I won’t need the spreadsheet.
In a couple of months time I’ll report on how this going. Till then, have an awesome New Year!
Written by David Johnson
9 January 2019
When The Thoughts Flow…
Echoes Of Life
